Drug campaign to make students aware

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
April 22, 2004

The Mercy Child Advocacy Center, part of Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City; the Sioux City Community School District, Catholic Schools of Sioux City, Gundersons, Safe Schools-Healthy Students Initiative and Avery Brothers came together to launch a community-wide drug prevention and education campaign. A press conference was held April 13 at Mercy to announce the campaign.

Carla Granstrom, from the Mercy Child Advocacy Center, along with Carlos Venable-Ridley, from Safe Schools, Healthy Students Initiative, spoke to those in attendance about why the program was started and what the program hopes to accomplish.

"Six million children live with at least one parent who use alcohol or drugs in this country. It is estimated that between one-third and two-thirds of all the child abuse cases alcohol or drugs are a factor," said Granstrom. "Children that have been in abusive, alcohol and drug related families are much more likely to be abusers themselves."

In a survey done by Siouxland Cares, 21 percent of the sixth graders reported that they had consumed alcohol before fifth grade, 10 percent of them had smoked tobacco and three percent of them had used marijuana. The average age for twelfth graders who drank alcohol was 13 years and one month old. The average age for sixth graders is nine years old. This shows that children are starting to drink at a younger age, according to statistics shared by Granstrom.

"One of the ways that we can combat this is partnerships with community agencies," said Granstrom. "That is what this venture is all about, our partnering with other community agencies so that we can have an impact on these devastating statistics."

The campaign was started because there is a trend across the United States to raise public awareness through such campaigns. This is Sioux City's response. Initially, Granstrom was going to write a grant for it. Then there were people in the community willing to help with it. She talked to the art teachers in Sioux City and looked at various options. Through the school system, they came up with the idea to have the middle school, TAG (talented and gifted) students, do an art contest.

"I was trying to get an anti-drug mural put together, and we thought the best way of incorporating the community was to have an art contest," said Granstrom. "Sharon Hobart and I met along with Laurie Dougherty from the Catholic schools and decided that this was the best environment to do this."

The message and drawings portrayed on the mural, "Learn to be drug free," will be on billboards across Sioux City, in buses, in schools and on T-shirts.

There were over 75 students who participated in the art contest and five were chosen to have their drawings put on the billboards. TAG students, art students, from the Sioux City area Katelyn Wilson and Taylor Maurer from West Middle School, Mary Beth Montanez, Catt Nguyen and Bethany Krapfl from Woodrow were the students chosen to have their art displayed on the mural.

"It is collaborations of this type that matter to this community because we want our young people to leave our schools with skills and the empowerment that they can say no to drugs," said Venable-Ridley. "The goals of the Safe Schools-Healthy Students Initiative are to help students develop the skills necessary for more positive mental health, engagement in positive social behavior and prevent violent behavior and drug use.

"It is community efforts such as this mural that will let our students and community know that we are making our students aware of the consequences of making bad choices and using illegal drugs."

Granstrom hopes that through the campaign parents will talk to their children about drugs. She also hopes that children realize there are fun alternatives to drugs and alcohol use.